The Hoenn Chronicles
by BlackDragoniteOfTheApocalypse
Summary: Chronicles the journey of Kyle and Sara--Two Trainers embarking from Littleroot on the adventure of a lifetime! Rated PG13 for some explicit stuff that comes up later. R
1. Arrival in Rustborough

Pokemon: The Hoenn Chronicles  
  
Chapter 1  
  
Kyle looked of the airplane window. He could see a huge dormant volcano spewing out pieces of ash. Kyle's mom had told him that the volcano was called Mt. Chimney, and had last erupted 400 years ago, destroying several cities, including Turquoiselake City and Aquamarine Town, the centers of civilization in Hoenn. Kyle feared what would happen if Mt. Chimney erupted again. But his mom told him that most of the homes and other buildings built around the volcano were now built with a type of lava- resistant metal, and that the reason Mt. Chimney erupted before was because of an evil organization known as the Magma Regiment, better known today as Team Magma.  
"Look, honey. There's the airport." Kyle's mom said as she pointed out a large building in Rustborough City. "That's where we're going to land."  
"Ladies and gentlemen aboard this flight," The captain said over the plane's intercom. "We're preparing to make our landing in Rustborough City, so I'm going to ask you to fasten your seatbelts now. We hope you enjoyed flying Kanto Airways, and we hope you fly with us again."  
After a few minutes of approaching the large town, the plane touched down on the runway. Kyle lurched forward as the plane skidded to a halt.  
It was about 7:30 at night in Rustborough City, and the Boeing 737 that Kyle stepped out of looked incredibly eerie in the night. White specks of light flew through the air, other airplanes taking off and touching down. Kyle had realized that he had touched down on his new home turf.  
A Machoke was hauling out luggage from the back, and handed a backpack to Kyle. Inside was all of Kyle's stuff; his books, his CD player, his game boy, his cell phone, and many other things important to him, such as a photograph of him and his father, the current leader of the Petalburg City Pokemon Gym.  
"Come on, honey." Kyle's mom said to him. "We're taking the rental car to the Rustborough Grand Hotel."  
  
A long black car drove up. A tall, slender man wearing a beret stepped out.  
"A limo with a chauffer?" Kyle turned to his mom, surprised. "The Rustborough grand hotel? How did you afford all of this?"  
"Your father is paying for it all." Kyle's mom replied. "He does make a lot of money running the gym, you know. But let's not worry about that right now. C'mon!"  
Kyle and his mom rode through the glamorous downtown part of Rustborough City, and saw many sights, including the prestigious Devon Corporation, the Rustborough City Pokemon Gym, and the Pokemon Trainers' School. And up ahead loomed the luxurious Rustborough Grand Hotel.  
"Wow. This place is great." Kyle said excitedly. "I can't wait to see the inside of the hotel. There's going to be an Olympic-sized swimming pool, gourmet dinners, penthouse suites..."  
"It's even better than that." Kyle's mom said. "They've got their own beauty salon. Now that's something I could use right now..."  
The chauffer let Kyle and his mom out at the drive-through entrance, and after they got their belongings from the trunk, the driver left. They made a quick check-in at the service desk, where the receptionist gave them their room key. On the way up in the elevator, Kyle noticed as he looked out of one of the windows that there were not one, but three Olympic-sized swimming pools. He could also see the Rustborough City Pokemon Gym across the street, shaped like a huge boulder.  
"Now that's a place I've gotta see." Kyle said as the elevator came to a halt on the 19th floor.  
"C'mon, sweetie." Kyle's mom said as they sped through the hall. "Our room is 19-303."  
Kyle and his mom finally found their hotel suite. Kyle's mom slid her keycard into the key slot, and the door opened.  
Inside were a kitchen on one side, and a den on the other. Situated on a large platform was a 53" giant-screen television with a satellite receiver on top. There were two doors in the room; one on the left, which led to Kyle's mom's room, and one on the right, which led to Kyle's room. Kyle quickly put his backpack in his room, and came back into the main room, where he slumped down on the leather sofa in the den. He gave a sigh of comfort as he sank in.  
"Wow, I didn't know that dad could afford to pay for a luxury suite like this!" Kyle said. "This is the life!" He reached for the remote, and turned on the television. They were showing his favorite show, "Spongebob Squarepants". Unfortunately, it was a rerun; with jokes Kyle had seen over a hundred times, so he decided to flip through the channels.  
"Man, eight hundred channels, and nothing to watch." Kyle said exhaustedly as he turned off the T.V. and stood up. "Hey, mom, can I go check out the city?"  
"Sure, honey." Kyle's mom replied from the kitchen. "Be back by 9:30."  
"Right, mom." Kyle slung his backpack over his shoulder, left the hotel room, took a short walk down the hall, and got to the elevator. He ran into a tall, slender man with ice blue hair who appeared to be in his mid-twenties. Kyle noticed six poké balls on his belt.  
"Hey, you're a trainer, aren't you?" Kyle said curiously.  
"Why, yes I am." The man replied.  
"Cool. You're on your pokémon quest, too, huh?"  
"Oh, no. I'm not a field trainer anymore"  
"So you run a gym?"  
"I guess you could say that."  
"Wait. If you aren't a field trainer, how come you're staying in this hotel?"  
"I'm not staying here. My dad owns this place."  
"Who's your dad?"  
"You ever heard of William Stone, the owner of Devon Corporation?"  
"Oh, yeah. That guy."  
"He owns this hotel, too. He's my dad."  
"Cool. What's your name?"  
"Steven. Steven Stone."  
"Cool. I'm Kyle."  
"So, you're a trainer?"  
"Well, not yet. I still need to get a pokémon and start training. But I hear that a scientist in Littleroot town, where I'm moving, is offering starter pokémon to beginning trainers."  
"Ah, a trainer soon-to-be, huh?" Steven chuckled. "If you're going to be a trainer, I might as well show you around the city. There are some things you should know. Follow me."  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: There are some things in the story that I changed; take the name of the trainer's dad, for instance. I changed it from Norman to Chris in order to be closer to reality. [My dad's name is Chris] Steven and Kyle boarded the elevator, which they took down to the lobby.  
"So, who are your parents?"  
"Their names are Isidora and Chris. My dad lives in Petalburg city."  
Steven suddenly stopped. "You mean Chris the Petalburg Gym leader?" He said, surprised. "That's my dad."  
"Wow. Small world. I've known Chris since before you were born. I remember that I met you once before, back when you were about three."  
"Really?" Kyle said, surprised.  
"Yup. That was back when he was a gym trainer in the Steelgate City gym, back in the Turquoise Region League."  
"Ah, Steelgate city. The big city was nice, but I think it would be nice to live in a quaint, verdant town like Littleroot.  
"Me, too, and I keep urging my dad to buy a house in the countryside for me and him and the rest of our family to live in, but he says he's too busy with work to even think about it."  
"That's too bad. One needs to get away from the big city every once in a while."  
"Which is why I spend a lot of my spare time in Dewford town."  
"Dewford Town... I've been there twice before. It's a neat place."  
"Yeah. Have you ever visited Granite Cave?"  
"Once. I hear that it's famous for the rare stones and minerals that can be found at the lower caverns. I found a moon stone there once, and I still have it."  
"Really? Let me see it." Steven said curiously as they left the hotel.  
"Hang on a sec." Kyle said as he rummaged through his backpack. "Ah. Here it is!" Kyle said as he showed the pearly white stone to Steven.  
Steven was amazed. "That's the biggest stone I've ever seen!"  
"Do you collect stones?"  
"Yep. That's a thing my dad and I have in common. Other than that, we're not too close."  
When their light turned green, Steven and Kyle crossed the street, and stopped in front of the Gym.  
"Are we going to go inside?" Kyle said hopefully. "I've never been inside a pokémon gym before, not since my dad moved here."  
"Sure. You could meet Roxanne, the Gym leader here."  
Steven and Kyle walked past the automatic double doors, which led them to a large atrium. To their left and right were hallways, each hall with six doors. The entrance to one of the halls had a sign above it that read, "Battle rooms. Gym trainers will battle challengers here." The other entrance had a sign above it that read, "Training rooms. Gym trainers will train and have practice battles amongst each other here."  
Directly in front of them was a door with a sign that read, "Gym leader's room. Challengers who have defeated all other gym trainers will battle Roxanne here. Visitors also welcome inside."  
"Let's go!" Kyle said excitedly. "I want to see the inside of a gym battle room!"  
"Okay." Steven said. "We'll check it out."  
Steven and Kyle proceeded into Roxanne's battle room, where a battle was afoot. A young trainer, about eight, was about to throw a poké ball onto the field.  
"Zigzagoon, I choose YOU!" The boy yelled as he threw the poké ball. A small, raccoon-like pokémon popped out of the poké ball.  
"Graveler, I choose you!" A young lady with braided hair, said. A gigantic, round pokémon with a rough, rocky hide, burst out of the poké ball.  
"Zigzagoon, take down attack!" The boy yelled.  
The Zigzagoon charged for the Graveler, and tackled it hard in the face. Graveler staggered backwards, but maintained balance, and regained its original posture.  
"Graveler, rollout!" Roxanne yelled.  
"Zigzagoon, agility!!" The boy shouted to his vulnerable pokémon.  
Zigzagoon jumped suddenly, and with lightning speed, darted left and right, keeping Graveler from hitting it.  
"Good job, Zigzagoon. Now a quick attack!"  
Zigzagoon darted to the front of the fast-moving Graveler, and bashed it in the underside, sending the dazed pokémon flying through the air.  
"Yes! Yes!" The boy said excitedly as Roxanne returned Graveler to its poké ball.  
"Robbie wins the first match out of three matches. The score is now one to zero, Robbie's favor." The announcer said.  
"It's not over yet." Roxanne said smugly to Robbie. "Onix, go!!"  
The pokémon that came out of Roxanne's poké ball was gigantic, at almost thirty feet long. It also had a strong, rocky hide, like Graveler had.  
"Zigzagoon, tackle!" Robbie yelled. "The tiny pokémon lunged for Onix."  
"Onix, dig!" Roxanne yelled to Onix. Onix disappeared underground, leaving a gigantic hole. Zigzagoon missed Onix, crashed right into the wall, and fell to the ground. It was barely able to stand, and right as it was about to dart away...  
Onix appeared right on the spot where Zigzagoon was standing. Zigzagoon was tossed into the air, but was bashed into the floor with Onix's tail. The Zigzagoon made a slight movement, and went completely motionless.  
"Zigzagoon!!" Robbie yelled. "Hang in there!"  
But the Zigzagoon didn't rouse.  
"Zigzagoon is unable to battle." The announcer said. "Roxanne is winner of round 2."  
"Zigzagoon, return." Robbie said, devastated. He returned the pokémon to its poké ball, and took another one out of his backpack.  
"Poochyena, go!" Robbie tossed the ball out onto the field, and a small, black, dog-like pokémon came out.  
"Onix, body slam!" Roxanne yelled. Onix jumped high into the air, curled up into a ball, and fell towards Poochyena. The dog darted away from Onix's projected impact zone and avoided being smashed, but when Onix hit the ground, it caused a massive earthquake that created several enormous fissures on the field. Poochyena was trapped!  
"Perfect, Onix. Now, rock throw!"  
Onix started whacking rocks with its tail, directing them towards the vulnerable pooch, and managed to get several successive hits. One rock hit Poochyena between the eyes. He passed out, and fell into one of the fissures created by Onix's massive earthquake. Robbie peered into the hole. Poochyena was motionless.  
"No!" Robbie cried.  
"Poochyena is unable to battle." The announcer said. "Roxanne's Onix wins round three. The battle is over. Roxanne has won two of the three rounds, making her the winner."  
Robbie was crying loudly. "It's all over!! I lost! I'll never get those eight badges! I can't even win one!"  
Kyle approached Roxanne, who was being photographed and asked for interviews and autographs.  
"Wow! You were really something!" Kyle said excitedly. "That was amazing!"  
"You think so?" Roxanne said. "It goes to show you, you can't win on just strength alone. You need to have knowledge, too. Onix's earthquake caused massive fissures that trapped Poochyena and made him defenseless. If it weren't for that, Poochyena might've been able to avoid those rocks that Onix was tossing at him."  
"Yep. That was some real A thinking, there." Kyle said.  
"I went to the Pokémon academy. The headmaster there, Mr. Harland, is a wonderful teacher. He was my teacher back when I went there 10 years ago."  
"Really? I went to Steelgate City Academy. They're a pretty good school, too."  
"So I hear. Are you from Steelgate? I hear it's the largest city in the world."  
"Yep. But I'm moving to Littleroot town."  
"Littleroot? Isn't that where Professor Birch lives?"  
"Yeah. I hear he's giving away new pokémon to beginning trainers, and I'm going to get one."  
"Cool. I look forward to battling you in the future."  
"You, too."  
Steven butted in between us. "C'mon, Kyle. It's almost 9:30."  
"Steven?" Roxanne said. "How come you never call me anymore—"  
But Steven and Kyle were already out the door and out on the Rustborough city streets. They crossed Main Street and checked into the lobby of the Rustborough Grand Hotel. Kyle led Steven to the elevators and they stepped inside.  
"That was cool." Kyle said. "I can't wait until I get the chance to become a trainer and earn gym badges and be able to battle the elite four and beat the champion! I wonder who the champion is anyway..."  
"Yeah, me too." Steven said, trying to stop a laugh.  
The elevator came to a halt on the 19th floor, and Kyle and Steven stepped out, and finally got to Kyle's hotel room.  
"Y'wanna come inside and meet my mom?" Kyle asked Steven.  
"I already met her a couple years ago, but I'll go in and say hi."  
Kyle's mom was cooking dinner. "Oh, hi, Kyle! So what do you think of Rustborough?"  
"It's great! I got to meet Steven Stone, the President of Devon Corporation's son." Steven walked in the door.  
"Steven! How's it been? Have you heard from Chris lately?"  
"I talked to him the other day when I was in Petalburg. He says he loves being a gym leader, but he misses his son and his wife."  
"He's going to come visit us when we're settled in our new house in Littleroot, and I'm excited about that." Kyle's mom said.  
"Yeah. I'm sure you are." Steven said as he glanced at his watch. "Whoops! I have to catch a plane to Mauville City. See you guys later!" Steven waved goodbye as he left out the door.  
It was Kyle's bedtime now, and tomorrow he would move to Littleroot Town, and maybe become a pokémon trainer, and probably, in the distant future, the world's greatest Pokemon Master!! 


	2. Welcome to Littleroot

Chapter 2  
  
Kyle sat in the back of the moving van, playing his GBA pokémon simulator programmed by the well-known pokémon studier, Professor Charles Birch, famous for his studies & breakthroughs in pokémon evolution. He wondered what life would be like in the Hoenn region. Kyle new that Littleroot Town, a small forest village, would be very different from Steelgate City, the biggest city in the world, with 80 million people living there. Also, there were only three big centers of industry in Hoenn; Rustborough City, Slateport City, and Lilycove city, and the largest city in Hoenn, Lilycove, had only three million people in it, compared to Goldenrod City in Johto with 23 million people, Saffron City with 31 Million, and, of course, Steelgate with 80 million.  
Kyle's thoughts were suddenly flushed out of his head when the van came to a screeching halt in front of the new house. The back hatch of the truck opened, and Kyle got his first look at his new home. It was huge; almost a mansion.  
"Well, Kyle, want to take a look inside?" His mom asked him.  
"Sure!" Kyle said, and ran inside. "Where's my room?"  
"Upstairs."  
"Cool!" Kyle said as he reached the top of the stairs. There was a TV with a GCN, PS2, and Xbox hooked up to it. In the corner there was a PC with a wireless LAN connected for electronic storage on the item storage network and the famous PC storage system programmed by Lanette the computer geek. Kyle decided to play his Xbox for a few hours in order to get settled in and to pass time, and, sure enough, 4 hours had gone by; it was 4:30 now. Kyle knew by the atomic clock on his wall.  
"Kyle, come down here!" Kyle could hear his mom's voice from downstairs. "Your eyes are going to dry up from all of that playing video games!"  
"Yeah? What is it, mom?"  
"Professor Birch was just on the phone."  
"!!! He was?" Kyle knew a lot about Prof. Birch, and wanted to meet him someday. "What did he say?"  
"Well, he said he had something for you, and to go by his lab to pick it up. His lab is just down the street, you know."  
"I ought to go, then." Kyle said as he grabbed his backpack and left out the door.  
Littleroot Town turned out to be a pretty small place, with a population of about 200 people. Kyle knew that he would recognize Birch's lab when he saw it; it was the tallest building in the town. And sure enough, Kyle found Birch's lab, three stories high, with a giant Poké Ball on top. Kyle walked inside the sliding doors, and found himself inside of the main hall. One of Birch's assistants was inside, looking through a microscope. He suddenly looked up when he saw Kyle.  
"Ah! Hello, hello!" The man said. You must be here to see the Professor. He's out doing field work on Route 101."  
"Hey, thanks." Kyle said to the man, and left the room.  
Kyle walked down the main road of Littleroot, and finally came to a gatehouse leading out of the town. Kyle stepped inside, and talked to the attendant.  
"Did you see Professor Birch walk through here?"  
"As a matter of fact, yes. I think that's him over there being attacked by a wild Poochyena."  
Kyle peered out the window and gasped. Sure enough, Prof. Birch had been jumped by a Poochyena, and was running for his life.  
"Well, why don't you do something?!" Kyle yelled to the attendant.  
"Sorry, I'm not allowed to leave my post when I'm on duty. I've got to make sure that everybody who's coming through has a pokémon with them. Hey wait a minute! Do you have a poke—"  
But it was too late. Kyle was already out the door, helping Prof. Birch.  
"Help! Save me!" Birch cried as Poochyena chased him in circles.  
"What should I do?" Kyle asked.  
"Do you see my bag over there?"  
"Oh, yeah."  
"There are three pokémon in there. Send one out, and HELP ME!"  
Kyle unzipped the bag, and found three poké balls inside. He read the labels: The first one was a tree-dwelling pokémon, Treecko, whose poké ball was color-coded green. Kyle thought that it was a cool pokémon, but that it had a stupid name, and didn't want to walk around with a pokémon called Treecko. The second one was Torchic, a fire bird pokémon, whose poke ball was color-coded red. Kyle thought that fire pokémon were awesome, and released Torchic, since he knew it had the most attack power.  
"Torchic, go!" Kyle yelled, and tossed the fiery red poké ball into the air. Torchic came out, confident in itself that it could win.  
"Torchic! Torrrr-chic!" The pokémon chirped anxiously.  
"Torchic, use fury swipes on that Poochyena!" Kyle commanded, and Torchic flew into the air, then swooped just centimeters over Poochyena, and used his talons to scratch Poochyena. Torchic turned back around, and swiped Poochyena again. Torchic repeated this process twice, and then settled down.  
"Nice job, Torchic." Kyle complimented the pokémon. "Now, finish it! Ember!"  
"Torchic!" Torchic chirped again happily, and blew a few small flames out of his mouth. The flames landed on Poochyena, and Poochyena, startled, started running for its own life! But the burn was too much for it, and it fainted in its tracks."  
"Nice job, Kyle!" Birch said. "Come with me back to my lab."  
"Daddy! Are you all right?" A girl about Kyle's age asked the Professor as she walked out of the guardhouse. "I heard that you were in trouble, and I came over right away!"  
"I'm fine, Sara." Birch said reassuringly. "Kyle came and saved me."  
"Oh, he did?"  
"Yep. I'm fine now. Just a little shocked, but I'm fine. By the way, Sara, this is Kyle. He's Chris's son. Remember, Chris the Petalburg Gym Leader?"  
"Oh, hi. Your dad told me that you'd be moving in, but he didn't say that you'd be a boy..." Sara blushed.  
Prof. Birch then turned to Kyle. "And Kyle, this is my daughter, Sara."  
"Hi." Kyle said.  
"Come on, let's go back to my lab."  
"Hey, do you have a pokémon with you?" The gate attendant asked Kyle. "I forgot to ask you back when you walked in."  
"I do now." Kyle said with a grin.  
The attendant rolled his eyes, and then went back to playing solitaire on his computer.  
Prof. Birch, his daughter Sara, and Kyle walked down the road and finally got to Birch's lab. Inside, Prof. Birch told him that Kyle could keep the Torchic, and asked him if he wanted to become a pokémon trainer.  
"Are you kidding? Of course! I've always dreamed of it!" Kyle said ecstatically.  
"Good. Then I will give you this pokédex. It's a state-of-the-art device that records any pokémon you catch. Let's test it on Torchic here.  
Prof. Birch handed Kyle a red device, much like a handheld computer or a Game Boy Advance SP. Kyle pressed the "scan" button, and the pokédex said in a metallic-sounding woman's voice, "Torchic. The chick pokémon. Torchic has a place inside its body where it keeps its flame. Give it a hug—it'll be glowing with warmth. This pokémon is covered all over by a fluffy coat of down."  
"Wow, that's really something. I hope that you can change the voice, though..."  
"Oh, of course. I just keep on the woman's robotic voice because Sara tells me to. There are a number of different settings you can change your pokédex to. And check this out—this pokédex has new 'camouflage' technology that allows you to change the color of the pokédex—check this out!" Prof. Birch pressed a button on the pokédex, and then another, and the outer plating of the device turned green! "So, as you can see, the pokédex is completely customizable. But, the goal with the pokédex is not to customize it, but to catch all 386 known pokémon, and record them in the pokédex. When you do that, you'll gain the respect of trainers all over the world."  
"Cool. I can't wait!"  
"Well, then, here you go." Prof. Birch handed Kyle the pokédex. "Sara's also is becoming a trainer. I wish you both luck on your trip."  
"Thanks, daddy." Sara kissed her dad on the cheek, and walked out the door with Kyle.  
"Just a second." Kyle said as he pulled out his cellphone. "I've gotta tell my mom that I'm leaving." Kyle dialed the number to his house, and his mom picked up.  
"Hello?" Kyle's mom's voice could be heard over the phone.  
"Hey, mom. It's me."  
"Oh, hey, Kyle. Prof. Birch's assistant already called and told me that you were going on your pokémon quest. But before you go, come by my house. I want to give something to you."  
"Oh, really? Okay, sure. I'll be right over. Bye!" Kyle pressed the "end" button on his phone, put it back in his pocket, and turned to Sara. "I've gotta stop by my mom's house to say good-by. Want to come?"  
"Sure. I already told my mom that I was going. I've got nothing else to do."  
Kyle and Sara walked over to Kyle's house, where his mom was waiting for him. "Hi, sweets!" She gave Kyle a big hug. "I noticed that your old sneakers were getting worn out, so since you're going to be doing a lot of walking on your trip, I decided to give you these running shoes. They used to be your father's." She handed him a pair of sleek-looking running shoes. Kyle gave her his old sneakers, and he put on the new shoes.  
"So, how do they feel?"  
"I almost can't feel them at all; they're really comfortable and light!"  
"I thought so." She tried to hold back a tear. "I'm—I'm going to miss you, sweetie."  
"I'll miss you too." Kyle hugged his mom. "I'll call you as much as possible."  
"Okay. Have fun on your journey." Kyle's mom said as Kyle and Sara walked off.  
"Bye, mom!"  
"Your mom seems nice." Sara said to Kyle. "My mom gets upset at me all the time."  
"So does my mom, but today she was saying good-by to me, so it's all easily understandable why she was being nice."  
"I see. By the way, I wanted to give you something." She handed him a pack of 5 poké balls. "Use them to catch pokémon with."  
"Wow, thanks." Kyle said as they walked into the gatehouse. It was starting to get late.  
"Hey, I remember you!" The attendant said as he saw Kyle and Sara. "You were the two who saved Professor birch from that wild pokémon."  
"Well, it was mostly Kyle." Sara said as she turned to Kyle.  
"Heh, thanks..." Kyle said, then suddenly remembered, "Oh, shoot, I forgot my sleeping bag inside of the electronic PC storage system."  
"No problem, kid. You can recall the item on that PC over there."  
"Does it have internet access?"  
"Sure does, kid."  
"Okay, thanks!" Kyle walked over to the computer in the corner, opened Internet Explorer, and went to the item storage system. He typed in his password, then clicked on the sleeping bag icon that appeared in a pull- down window. As if by magic, the sleeping bag appeared in front of him.  
"There we go. Thanks!" Kyle said to the man.  
"So, are you a trainer?"  
"Yeah. Just started."  
"Really? Did you get your first pokémon from Prof. Birch?"  
"Yeah."  
"Cool. That's where my cousin got his pokémon."  
"What's your cousin's name?"  
"Steven Stone."  
"Steven Stone...I met him in Rustborough!"  
"Did you know that he's—oh wait, I'm not allowed to tell you."  
"What is it?"  
"Sorry, Official Pokémon League business."  
"Well, thanks for the help."  
"No problem, kid."  
Kyle and Sara left the gatehouse, and found themselves in the wilderness at night after walking for about a mile, Kyle realized it was too dark to keep going.  
"I've never been out here at night." Sara said. "My dad always tells me that nighttime's when the wild pokémon are most dangerous."  
"We'll be fine. We can set up camp over there, under those evergreens. Besides, if we see any wild pokémon, we always have our own pokémon with us. Speaking of which, which pokémon did you get?"  
"Mudkip." Sara said. "I think that she's the coolest."  
"I think Mudkip's pretty cool, too. So we've got pretty strong pokémon, right?" So if we were to get attacked by anybody, we'd have them with us, right?"  
"Right!"  
"So, no need to be worried. Let's get the sleeping bags out."  
Kyle unrolled his sleeping bag under the evergreens, and Sara unrolled here next to his. (Author's note: So I guess it's obvious to you guys that Sara and Kyle have a thing for each other, right?)  
Suddenly, a man in a black suit jumped out at them. Sara screamed.  
"Hey, you." The man pointed to Kyle. "You were the kid who K.O.'d my Poochyena. You'll pay."  
"What can you do?"  
"Don't be talking that way, kid. I'm older than yous, and I could have you arrested." He pointed his pocketknife at Sara. "Or maybe I'll just kill your girlfriend here."  
"Don't hurt her!" Kyle socked the offender in the face, revealing a large red "R" printed on the front of his shirt.  
"Oh my god, he's a Rocket Member!" Sara whimpered. "Do something, Kyle!"  
"Torchic, flamethrower!" Kyle yelled as he sent out Torchic. The tiny bird pokémon flew into the air, and concentrated its flame attack on the Rocket. He wasn't badly hurt from the attack, but was startled by it, and ran off screaming.  
"Thank you!" Sara said, and kissed Kyle on the cheek.  
"Thank you." Kyle said as he turned, surprised, to Sara.  
"It's getting awful late." Sara said, trying to change the subject. "We ought to get to sleep."  
"Alright." Kyle said. "Good night." 


	3. Adventure Calls, We Answer

Chapter 3  
  
Kyle's eyes opened slightly. He glanced at his watch. 8:30. The sun was up, and Sara was awake, eating a sandwich.  
"Good morning." He yawned.  
"Morning!" Sara replied cheerfully.  
"Man, I wish I brought some food."  
"I would give you a sandwich, but this is all I brought."  
"It's okay. I'm going to go find some breakfast." Kyle noticed that there were several berry trees growing in the area, and thanks to the BerryDex feature on his pokédex, he could find out which ones were the best to eat. He scanned the first tree, which had Rawst berries growing on it, but learned that Rawst berries were very bitter. Another tree had Cheri berries, which were very spicy. Another tree had delicious-looking pink- orange colored berries, which were called Pecha berries. Kyle decided that he'd collect them and take them back to camp. He also grabbed a few sour Aspear berries to round out their flavor.  
"I got breakfast." Kyle said as he carried the bag of berries that he found. "Here you go."  
"Thanks. I'm starving to death." Sara said, relieved. "That sandwich wasn't very appetizing."  
Suddenly, there was a rustling in the bushes, and out popped a bird- like pokémon.  
"Uh-oh." Kyle said. "It must've smelled the berries. Better consult the pokédex."  
"Taillow." The pokédex said. "The Tiny Swallow pokémon. Taillow is young—it has only just left its nest. As a result, it sometimes becomes lonesome and cries at night. This pokémon feeds on Wurmple that live in forests."  
"Taillow, huh?" Kyle said.  
"Wait—there are BUGS in these forests?" Sara cried.  
"Poké ball, go!" Kyle tossed his poké ball at the bird pokémon, but she dodged it.  
"She's too fast. Better stop her in her tracks. Torchic, fire spin!" Torchic, already out of his poké ball, shot a cloud of flames out of its beak. The flames engulfed Taillow, and kept her from flying away, because if she did, she'd be barbecue. Kyle tossed another poké ball at Taillow. Taillow let out a cry as she was caught in the red beam of light that held her inside the poké ball. The poké ball fell to the floor. It beeped 5 times, and then finally stopped. Kyle had just caught a Taillow.  
"All right, I caught a Taillow! Now we don't have to worry about anybody intruding on breakfast."  
"That's a relief." Sara laughed, and the two started eating the berries.  
  
"Hey, do you see anything?" Meowth asked as he peered over Jessie's shoulder.  
"Not yet—oh, there." Jessie centered her binoculars on Kyle, Sara, Torchic, and Taillow.  
"Do you see anything yet, Jessie?" James called from the tent. "Is it that twerp Ash Ketchum?"  
"No. Team Aqua murdered him years ago. Remember?"  
"Oh yeah." James could remember it like yesterday. Just minutes after being crowned champion, during his parade, Ash Ketchum was shot to death by a Team Aqua member. Team Aqua had long been an enemy of Team Rocket, and the Rockets were attempting to assassinate Ash at the exact same time. Also attempting to kill Ash were Team Magma, another rival criminal gang. Seconds after the attack, TV cameras rushed into the scene, and the headline "Ash Ketchum Murdered" ran on newspapers around the world the next day instead of "Ash Ketchum Crowned Champion".  
"Boy, am I glad we got that twerp out of our fur." Meowth said as he was polishing the gold coin he wore as a headpiece. "The world's been a much better place without his kind."  
"Well, what have we here?" Jessie said as she zoomed the binoculars in on Torchic. "That's a Torchic."  
"Torchic?" Meowth put the coin back on his head. "You mean one of the rarest pokémon in the world, Torchic?"  
"Yes. And it's ours." Jessie said. "We'll take them by surprise. Meowth, get ready to fury swipes that trainer into giving up his Torchic. Now!" Jessie picked Meowth up and tossed him directly towards Sara and Kyle.  
"Wait, stop! I only used fury swipes once! I don't know how to use it again! -- HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP MEEEEEEEEEE—"  
  
"Well, that was a good meal." Sara said as she stood up. Torchic and Taillow gave a happy chirp and flew into the air. Kyle rolled up the sleeping bags and walked to the main path, joining Sara.  
Suddenly, Kyle heard what sounded like a pokémon slamming into a tree. "Hmm. Wonder what that was. Must've been my imagination."He kept walking the rest of the way, and then eventually came to another gatehouse.  
"Mornin'." The attendant greeted the two as they stepped inside. "Nice weather we're having, eh?"  
"Yeah. It's been real sunny lately." Kyle said.  
"Yup. You two from Littleroot Town?"  
"Well, I am." Sara piped in. "He's from Steelgate City."  
"What brings you to the Hoenn region, kid?"  
"Well, my dad became the Petalburg City Gym Leader, so we moved to Hoenn in order to be closer to him.  
"Ah, the father-son bond. I'm close to my dad, too. So, you visiting your dad?"  
"Kind of. I'm actually out here to start my pokémon journey. I'm a trainer."  
"Me too." Sara said.  
"Well, you must be tired. Not many trainers I've known have come this far. Oldale Town's just beyond this gate."  
"Good. We're just about out of food, and I'm starving."  
"You should try the Corphish Café. They've got great seafood. Don't know if they serve breakfast though..."  
"Thanks, but I think I'll pass." Sara said, her face turning green.  
"Well, there's always McDonald's for them young ones.... anyways, I'm holding you too long. Nice talking to ya."  
"Nice talking to you too." Kyle said, and walked toward the exit, but was stopped by a small kid.  
"You're a trainer right?" The kid said.  
"Yeah."  
"Then you have to battle me. It's a rule."  
"Sorry, but me and my pokémon are—"  
"It's rude to refuse. You have to battle me."  
"Alright, fine." Kyle realized this would be a good time to test out Taillow's strength. "Taillow, go!"  
"Alrighty, then. I choose Pidgey!" The boy opened a poké ball, and a tiny bird pokémon came out. "Kurooko!" It squawked.  
"Taillow, quick attack!" Taillow flew into the air; traveling so fast it was invisible to the human eye. Taillow then struck Pidgey once. Then again. Then three times. Then four. Pidgey was dazed and confused by the attack, but still managed to get a direct hit when it head-butted Taillow. Taillow fell unconscious, but came to, and growled at Pidgey, frightening and intimidating the pokémon. Pidgey was terrified. Taillow showed no mercy, however, and used another quick attack, leaving Pidgey motionless.  
"Woo! I won!" Kyle said happily. "My first trainer battle, and I won! Nice job, Taillow.  
"Great. That means I'll have to give you money, huh." The trainer said. He handed Kyle 80 pokédollars.  
"Wow. Thanks." Kyle said, surprised. He didn't know that rule about pokémon battling. "I appreciate this."  
"Don't mention it. Where are you heading, anyway?"  
"Well, I'm taking the pokémon league challenge, so my destination is Ever Grande City, but I need to collect all eight gym badges to be able to get there, so really, I'm going all over Hoenn. What's your name, anyway?"  
"I'm Jimmy. I'm also a trainer. I have other pokémon, but they're back at my house. I only took Pidgey with me because he's the only one that I caught in the wild, and all my other pokémon are afraid of the wild since they were bred in captivity. My dad's a pokémon breeder."  
"Really? Where do you guys live?"  
"We live on 36 Spearow Street in Oldale Town."  
"Oh really? Is there a gym in Oldale?"  
"Well, there's an unofficial training gym, but there aren't any official league gyms."  
"Oh. I might pay them a visit, since I might want to pump up my pokémon in case I run into any more of those bastards that try to take our pokémon."  
"Well, it's pretty exclusive. They've got 6 Olympic-sized pools, 12 relaxing spas, 4 saunas, 3 steam rooms...it probably costs fifty-thousand pokédollars to get in."  
"So I see. It sounds more like a sports and wellness place rather than a gym, but I'd go anytime, if I HAD fifty thousand pokédollars." Kyle said.  
"Just imagine, spending a day there..." Sara said dreamily. "That's what I need. A dip in the hot tub, a cool, relaxing swim, a back massage..."  
"Right, Sara." Kyle said half-laughing. "We'll go sometime."  
"Sometime." Jimmy said.  
"But first, we'll need to find a place to sleep." Sara said, snapping out of her daydream. "Anybody know of any good five-star hotels in Oldale?"  
"You guys can stay at my house." Jimmy said. "We always take in guests. We also have all of that stuff that the gym has, only for free."  
"That's very kind of you." Sara said. "Who needs to waste all that money on a five-star hotel, anyway?"  
"Exactly!" Kyle said. "Now, let's go!" The three of them exited the gatehouse and found themselves in a noisy, bustling town, where people were out and about, enjoying themselves.  
"So, where's your dad's place?" Kyle asked Jimmy.  
"Follow me." Jimmy said as he took a turn at Spearow Street. "It's right over here." He stopped at a three-story building with a sign next to it that said, "James Daniels Pokémon Breeding Center and Hotel."  
"Your dad's name is Jim too?" Sara said.  
"Yep. So is my grandpa. He founded the company, but he retired, and gave the company to my dad. Come on inside!"  
Inside, there were two swimming pools, 4 hot tubs, a sauna, a massaging center, and a place for people to have practice pokémon battles.  
"Who knew that a breeding center would be so...luxurious?" Sara said as she gazed in wonder at all of the many features in the breeding center.  
"Come on upstairs." Jimmy said. "You can meet my parents, my grandpa, my brothers, and my pokémon." Jimmy quickly ran up the stairs, followed by Kyle and Sara. Upstairs was like a normal house, with a living room, bedrooms, a kitchen, an office, and everything else.  
"Hey mom. I'm back." Jimmy said. "These are my friends, Kyle, and his girlfriend, Sara."  
Sara blushed.  
"Oh, hi there. Are you two pokémon trainers?" Jimmy's mom was at the table, preparing lunch.  
"Yeah. We're not that experienced, though; we just got our first pokémon yesterday." Kyle said. "We won our first battle, though."  
"Oh really? Who did you beat?"  
"...Your son." Sara said.  
"Ooh, you must be a skilled trainer if you could beat my little boy."  
"Mom!!" Jimmy protested.  
"Jimmy, you're only seven years old! You've got a long way to go as a trainer." Jimmy's mom said. "Now. Could you hand me the salt?"  
"Here you go, mom." Jimmy quickly handed his mom the salt, then went into the living room, where his dad was watching the KODT-TV 3:00 News Preview on television.  
"Oh hey, Jim!" He said as he looked up from the TV. "New friends?"  
"Yeah, dad." Jimmy quickly replied, but his eyes were glued to the television screen, as were Kyle's and Sara's.  
"Good evening, I'm Chad Brinkman for KODT Television News. We bring you this live report from Petalburg City, where correspondent Jenna Castillo is reporting live.  
"Thanks, Chad. A team rocket member is in custody this afternoon after having attempted to escape from the scene where mayor Gregorio Chavez was shot earlier today. The mayor is currently in serious condition. We are now getting a report... the attacker has been identified as a Team Rocket member named Robert Fredricksen Jr. Here's a picture of the man.  
The television then showed a picture of a man in a black suit with an "R" printed on the front. The man had a bushy red mustache, the same color as his hair.  
"That was the guy who jumped us outside of Littleroot!" Kyle exclaimed. "He raised a knife at us!"  
"Although in serious condition, Chavez managed to answer a few questions for KODT Television."  
The screen suddenly flipped to a picture of a man In a hospital bed. The man was slightly chubby, and had a bushy mustache.  
"Mr. Chavez," An offscreen voice said, "Where exactly did this incident occur?"  
"I cough was walking by the Oldale Town Bank, on the corner of Central and Main, when this guy with a scar on his forehead burst right out of this abandoned office building, and popped me in the shoulder a couple times. Then he got on this moped, and tried to escape, but a cop who saw him fleeing the scene shot out both of the bike's tires. That's all I saw before I fainted.  
"There you have it!" The reporter said as the screen flashed to her. "The mayor's exact words. Back to you, Chad."  
"Oh my god, that guy was an assassin!" Sara shrieked.  
"What?" Jimmy said. "What are you guys talking about?"  
"That guy... he came up to us just outside of Littleroot Town, and threatened us at knifepoint. Luckily Torchic here scared him off."  
"Torchic!" Torchic chirped happily and did a back flip in the air.  
"Wow. At least that guy was brought to justice!" Jimmy's dad said.  
"Well I'll be damned..." An elderly man with a cane walked into the room. "Is that Rob Fredricksen's sonny on the T.V.?"  
"Yeah, gramps." He just got arrested for trying to kill Petalburg's mayor.  
"Rob and I go way back..." Jimmy's grandpa went into a daydream. "We been friends since we were preschoolers... I better call him up and see if he knows about his sonny."  
"Um, dad?" Jimmy's dad said to the man. "Didn't Rob Fredricksen Senior die of a heart attack three years ago?"  
"Oh yeah, same day that that Ash guy got shot..."  
"Ash Ketchum?" Jimmy said. "I know tons about him! He was shot November 4th, 2009."  
"I don't care about Ash Ketchum. All I care about is that this guys behind bars now."  
"Don't start doing cartwheels, Kyle." Jimmy's dad warned. "Team Rocket has tons of followers..."

A man in a black uniform strolled down a long corridor, dressed in a completely black uniform, with a black military jacket with an "R" sewn on the left sleeve, and several badges pinned on the left side of his chest. His black military cap, along with his white beard, neatly trimmed, made him look like an admiral, although he had no connections to the military. This man was named Richard Walters, an administrative officer in Team Rocket, in charge of the Rockets' Hoenn operations. Standing in line on both sides of him were thousands upon thousands of Team Rocket grunts awaiting his command.  
"TROOPS!" Walters barked. "I know that we've had a minor setback after the arrest of Personnel 629. But I assure you, after our operation to take over Dewford Town is complete, we will be much closer to the takeover of the Hoenn region, and once it is taken over, teams Aqua and Magma will be completely wiped off the face of the planet! And once we take over Dewford, all of you can enjoy a fun and relaxing time at Hoenn's trendiest city!"  
Jubilant cheers echoed through the room. "HUZZAH!" The grunts said in unison as Walters raised his arm in the air, his hand balled into a fist.  
  
**WILL TEAM ROCKET'S PLAN PREVAIL? WITH KYLE AND SARA WELL ON THEIR WAY IN THEIR POKÉMON JOURNEY, HAVING JUST ADDED TAILLOW TO THEIR ARSENAL, THE JOURNEY GOES ON.**  
  
TO BE CONTINUED... 


	4. Ransom

The Hoenn Chronicles, Chapter 4  
  
"Come on, Torchic!" Kyle called out to the tiny bird pokémon. "Use ember again!"  
Torchic took a long and fierce exhale, and small flames flew out, landing on Jimmy's Poochyena, Poochy. The small dog pokémon attempted to dodge the flames, but the embers spread quickly, and turned into a fire, so Poochy couldn't escape.  
"Good job, Torchic!" Kyle called. "Now, a tackle!"  
Being resistant to flames, Torchic easily crossed through the fire that Poochy was trapped in, and struck Poochy in the side.  
"YEEEEEEE!!!" Poochy yelped as it tumbled into the fire.  
"Hang in there, Poochy!" Jimmy called. "Take down attack!"  
Poochy growled, stood up for a few seconds, and then fainted.  
"No!!!" Jimmy cried. "Wow, you beat me again!"  
"Hahah!" Kyle said triumphantly.  
"Shit. I don't have any money. I'll pay you when we get back to my place. This is all I got." Jimmy showed Kyle seven coins, equaling up to seventeen pokédollars. "I'll pay you the rest later. Come on, let's go meet May at Graveler's Breakfast Kitchen. I'm starving for some bacon."  
"Will do. Come on, I'll race you there." Kyle bolted out the doors of the breeding center, followed closely by Jimmy. Just across the street was Graveler's restaurant. Kyle quickly looked both ways before crossing, and, seeing that the road was clear, he sprinted across the street. Jimmy was huffing and puffing behind Kyle by the time Kyle made it to the restaurant.  
"Haha. Pay up, Jim." Kyle said.  
"What?!" Jimmy shrieked. "You never said anything about that!"  
"Man, can't you take a joke?" Kyle laughed. "Come on, let's go inside."  
  
Rocket Admin Richard Walters relaxed in his leather chair in his spacious office. Around him were several computer monitors, keeping track of security among other things; and several toys on his desk, like a Pikachu bobble head, an Aggron-shaped desk lamp, and a Poliwhirl alarm clock. "Ahh..." Walters said. "Finally I can get some relaxation..."  
Just then, an image flashed up on one of the security screens on the wall. It was Rocket Captain Herbert Willis, leading the operation to take over Dewford Town. "Um, sir, we're ready to begin the invasion."  
"Good, don't make too much of a scene, just lay low. Wait until I give you the order to seize the city."  
"Yes sir." The screen went blank, and Walters looked out the window to see his armada of helicopters taking off from an enclosed hangar.  
"Let the invasion begin." Walters said to himself as the last helicopter took to the skies.  
  
"Torchic!!" The tiny orange bird pokémon chirped happily as it flapped its little wings to stay aloft.  
"Ahh... good breakfast." Kyle said as they walked out of the restaurant. "We should be ready to head on to Petalburg now."  
"Isn't that where Norman the gym leader lives?" Jimmy asked.  
"Yeah. He's my dad." Kyle said.  
"What? Kyle, you never told me that." May said with enthusiasm. "That's so cool, having a dad who's one of the league's top trainers. What's it like for you?"  
"It's kind of irritating." Kyle sighed. "Ever since my dad earned eight badges from the Turquoise and Johto Leagues, once I tell people who I am, they always ask me questions like 'Could I get your dad's autograph' or stuff like that. I just want people to accept me for me, not my dad. That's why I'm starting my pokémon journey. So I can get all the badges so people will walk up to me asking for my autograph instead of my dad's."  
"I see what you mean." Jimmy thought for a moment. "But I'd still like to have a dad who was really famous."  
"Believe me, you don't." Kyle said. "If your dad ever becomes famous, you'll regret having said that. Anyways, we have to go off to Petalburg."  
"Can I go with you?" Jimmy said. "My parents say that I'm ready to take the Pokémon League Challenge."  
"Do you have a trainer card?" Kyle said, holding up his trainer I.D.  
"You know what?" Jimmy said matter-of-factly as he flashed his card in the air.  
"Great! That means you're ready. Have you told your parents?"  
"I better go say good-by to them." Jimmy said.  
"Great." Sara said as she, Kyle, and Jimmy walked to Jimmy's house. "That means you can come with us."  
"Really? All right!" Jimmy jumped in the air. "You guys rock!"  
"Now, let's go see your parents. Right here, right?" Kyle said as they finished crossing Spearow Street. Jimmy's parents, along with his grandfather, were in the living room of his home, watching a cop show on television. During the commercial break, Jimmy told them about his plan to take the Pokémon Challenge.  
"Good luck, sonny." Jimmy's grandfather said as he gave him a hug.  
"I'll miss you." Jimmy's mom gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Give us a call sometime. Don't forget to write us with Pidgey."  
Jimmy's dad walked over to Jimmy. "I hope you accomplish your goals on this mission, son. That's what life is about. Follow your dreams." A tear came to his eye as they hugged. Kyle and Sara couldn't help but shed tears themselves. "Now, go."  
"Bye, dad." Jimmy was sobbing. "I'll see you soon."  
"Ready to go, Jim?" Kyle asked.  
"Hold on. Let me get my stuff." Jimmy ran to his room, and returned moments later with his backpack. "All right, let's go." Jimmy and friends walked out of the building. "Come on!" Kyle said. "Let's go."  
The three pals walked towards route 102, only to find that the gatehouse was blocked by a group of people dressed in black. (a/n: remember this isn't completely accurate to Ru/Sa) "Hey, it costs ten thousand pokédollars to pass. Cough up the dough."  
"Hmm...maybe we should go to Route 103. Kyle said, looking at a directory near the gatehouse. The three walked through the town, carefully crossing streets, and came up to the gatehouse to Route 104, where several people were taking a break. The three walked out of the gatehouse to find that it didn't lead to Petalburg as they expected. It was a large open forest with several other trainers hanging around.  
"You know, Sara, don't you think this would be a good time to battle?" Kyle turned to his friend. "That way we can test our skills."  
"All right, but don't bet on your Torchic to win." Sara said. "Besides, I just caught a Zigzagoon so I can round out my team."  
"It doesn't matter. I've got some good strategies." Kyle unclipped a poké ball from his belt. "Taillow, go!" He threw the ball into the air, and in a red flash of light, Taillow popped out. "Tail! Tail-low!"  
"Mudkip, go!" Sara called as she threw her poké ball into the air.  
"MUD! Mud-kip!" The blue frog pokémon said.  
"Okay, Taillow, peck!" Kyle commanded. Taillow chirped as she flew into the air and did a dive back down, striking Mudkip in the chest and pecking at it with vigor.  
"Mudkip, tail whip!" Sara yelled, and immediately, Mudkip jumped up and lashed Taillow with its tail. The tiny bird screeched as it flew through the air. "Don't give up, Taillow!" Kyle said. "Sand-attack!" Taillow regained control and landed, flapping her wings furiously to kick sand into the air. Mudkip was blinded by the attack, and couldn't see the gigantic tornado Taillow had created using gust. Mudkip was hurled into the air and receive a lot of damage. When the tornado subsided, Mudkip was unable to battle anymore. "Mudkip!" Sara called. "No! Mudkip, return." Sara called Mudkip back to its poké ball. "Zigzagoon, go!" Sara tossed another poké ball into the air. It opened, and a Zigzagoon came out. "What's that?" Kyle said, consulting his pokédex. "_Zigzagoon, the tiny raccoon pokémon. Zigzagoon is a very timid pokémon that only fights when another pokémon has entered its territory_." "Ha!" I can win against that!" Kyle said. "Taillow, wing attack!" Taillow flew like a missile into the air, and made a beeline for Zigzagoon. "Zigzagoon, headbutt!" Sara called, and Zigzagoon, jumped into the air and bashed Taillow with its head. Taillow went spinning, and landed in the grass, unable to battle." "Cheap shot." Kyle said. "Taillow, return!" Kyle called Taillow back to its poké ball, and sent out Torchic. "Torchic, GO!" Torchic, already out of its poké ball, hopped off Kyle's shoulder. "Tor! Tor!" Torchic chirped happily. "Torchic, ember!" Kyle commanded. "Zigzagoon, evade attack!" Zigzagoon, attempting to escape the rapid fire that Torchic's embers were causing, scampered up a tree, which was rapidly being consumed by the flames Torchic's ember had caused. "Zigzagoon, tackle!" Sara called up to the tree. "Zig! Zigzag!" Zigzagoon shook its head, consumed with fear. Kyle consulted his pokédex. "_Zigzagoon is a timid pokémon with a fear of any type of fire._" The pokédex said. "Ha!" Kyle said triumphantly. "Torchic, peck!" Torchic, immune to the flames, followed Zigzagoon up the tree and cornered him at the edge of a branch. Torchic began pecking at Zigzagoon. Zigzagoon screeched, and fell off the branch. This blow caused him to faint. The flames went out as the battle ended. "Victory is mine!" Kyle said jokingly. Jimmy clapped as he watched the victory. "Great battle!" Sara said as she gave Kyle two hundred pokédollars. "You too. You almost beat me!" Kyle said. "You know, there might be some rare pokémon around this place." Jimmy said, taking a good look around. Suddenly there was a rustling near the seashore, which the three had just noticed. "What was that?" Sara said in an alarmed voice. "Probably just a Pidgey or Sentret or something. There are plenty of them around here." "SQUIRTLE!" A tiny turtle pokémon popped out from a bush near the seashore. "What the—Kyle checked his pokédex." "_Squirtle. The tiny turtle pokémon. Squirtle is a tough pokémon that usually lives near oceans._" The tiny pokémon had a light-brown turtle shell on its back, and aqua blue skin. "Squirtle squirt!" It said. "All right!" Kyle said. "Torchic, go!" Torchic hopped down from Kyle's shoulder. "Torchic, tackle. Don't hit Squirtle too hard." Torchic obeyed and struck Squirtle in the head, where it didn't have as much protection. Squirtle took heavy damage. "Perfect. Poké ball, go!" Kyle threw an empty poké ball into the air. It opened up, and a red beam of light engulfed Squirtle. Squirtle and the red beam of light disappeared into the poké ball. The ball beeped five times, and finally clicked. "All right, I finally caught Squirtle!" Kyle held the poké ball up to the sunlight. "My third pokémon." As Kyle and Sara healed their pokémon with super potion, Jimmy talked to his parents on his cellphone. "All right, ready to go?" Kyle said to Jimmy as he hung up. "Yeah." Jimmy said. "Hopefully those goons in front of the gatehouse at route 102 are gone." "Probably." Kyle said as he started towards Oldale. "Come on, Jimmy!" Sara called. "Coming." Jimmy hurried to catch up with Kyle and Sara. The three walked through the gatehouse and entered Oldale to find that the route 102 gatehouse was no longer blocked, but a police officer was standing nearby, along with several other officers who were handcuffing one of the goons who had been blocking the gatehouse before. "What's going on, officer Jenny?" Jimmy asked the blue-haired woman who was standing by the gatehouse. "This gatehouse was the victim of a scam by Team Rocket. They tried to charge people to get past the gate. Fortunately somebody tipped us off that this was going on."  
"I should've known..." Kyle thought. "At least now we can get past. Come on guys."  
Jimmy and Sara followed Kyle into the gatehouse and into route 102, which was a lovely beach with some tall grasslands. Several tourists were playing along the beach.  
"I can see why Team Rocket had interest in this particular spot." Kyle mumbled.  
"Oh, it's beautiful!" Sara said.  
"Hey, what's that?" Jimmy looked up. A silhouette of a large bird pokémon was slowly getting bigger.  
"FEEEEEAROW!" A loud screech went through the air. Moments later, the pokémon lifted Jimmy up off the ground.  
"AAHH!! HELP ME!!" Jimmy screamed as he was carried off on Fearow.  
"Jimmy!!" Sara cried.  
"What's this?" Kyle picked up a leaflet off the ground. It read, "IF YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR FRIEND AGAIN, MEET US IN THE PETALBURG WOODS."  
  
TO BE CONTINUED 


End file.
